China. Land of the somethin somethin. For over so many hundreds/thousands of years she has cast her imperial light over lands as far north as somewhere and reaching down south to that place. Now, in the age of computers and stuff, China must struggle to find it's place in a changing world.

Here I am. To be precise, right now I'm at the Far East Hostel, getting coffee in a big discotheque and getting ripped off on internet rates. The last two days were spent on board the majestic "Name That Sounds Like Falling Silverware" as she parted the jellyfish-filled sea on her way to Tangu, the port for Tienjin. All agreed we did good to take the boat. I think our heads would have exploded from all the rush of moving and the new culture shock if we had flown in. The two days let our brains settle.

From Tangu we tried to take a cab with some fellow travellers to the train station, but instead he took us to Tienjin. Nice guy. From there by train to Beijing, where we braved the subway to a place near the hostel. Chinese trains and subways are quite different from those in Japan, in the same way that a bucolic painting by a renaissance master is different than a Jackson Pollack. To board a Chinese train, line up near the door, wait for the bell, and push. Hard.

Met some nice folks on the train and played a bit of Igo, and last night I had some of the best food I've had in a long time, maybe since Thailand, out of an all night food stall in some alley. I don't know what they did to that eggplant, but it should have been grateful. I was.

Today the Forbidden City and making future travel arrangements.